Youngjae was supposed to meet Yongguk in the park where they usually had coffee and they would then head out to Yongguk’s cafe, which he had promised wouldn’t be a far walk.

The plan was to meet up at eleven but Youngjae had been jittery all night with anticipation and was up as soon as the sun was seen peeking around the edges of his bedroom window. 

He spent most of the morning getting ready and worrying over unnecessary things like what to wear or what cologne to use even though it was all pointless. Trying to remind himself that it wasn’t a date, Youngjae settled for the simplest but nicest outfit he could manage, which was a lilac colored long sleeved shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. 

After getting dressed, there was really not much else to do except to wait until he could leave, and since there was about an hour left before the meet up, he decided to watch some television to pass the time. But that plan failed miserably because early on saturday morning, there was nothing on but old drama reruns, and after almost crying at the heartfelt scene of the main character’s mother dying on the hospital bed, Youngjae decided that it would be best to leave while he was still in a good mood. 

He didn’t live very far from the park and so it was only a five minute journey. Stepping out into the cold, crisp air, Youngjae had made sure to pull on his favorite beanie, but he didn’t have a scarf to accompany it so he pushed up his shoulders a bit in an effort to cover his neck with the collar of his jacket. 

According to his watch, Youngjae was there twenty minutes before eleven, but he was surprised to find Yongguk already sitting on the park bench, looking very casual and relaxed. Before approaching the man, Youngjae took a minute to appreciate how lovely he looked with his winter attire and his mess of black hair sitting perfectly atop his head. 

When Yongguk noticed Youngjae stepping hesitantly towards him, the older man got up swiftly and a smile spread across his face. “Hey there. You’re kind of early,” he said, still smiling and staring down at the younger. 

Youngjae blushed but rolled his eyes and replied, “Well I’m obviously not the only one since you were here before me.”

Yongguk chuckled. “I was done getting dressed a tad bit too early so I just decided to come here and people watch until you came.”

Youngjae kept quiet about the same thing happening to him. 

“But now that you’re here,” he continued, “should we go?”

Youngjae nodded and then they were off, walking side by side up the street Youngjae usually saw Yongguk walking down every weekday. 

Just like Yongguk had promised, the cafe wasn’t far from the park but it was in a different area that Youngjae had never ventured to before. The street was lined with little boutiques and stores, and sneaking a peek inside as they walked by, Youngjae saw a couple of items and trinkets that grabbed his attention, and he made a mental note to come back later. 

Yongguk led him to the end of the street and into a tiny cafe on the corner. From the outside it didn’t look like much, but the interior was something to marvel at. There were floor to ceiling windows lining the front and the warm colors fit right in for the cold season. There was a smell of mint and cinnamon in the air and the way the morning sun was glittering across the floors and against the paintings hung up on the wall created an enticing atmosphere. 

Yongguk brought Youngjae over to one of the two seater tables by the wall fitted windows, gesturing for the younger to take a seat while he stood, hovering at the side. 

“I’ll order. It’ll be my treat.”

Youngjae tried not to think too much about that statement. 

“Is there anything specific that you want?” the tall man continued. 

“Uh, whatever you want to get is fine,” Youngjae said, offering a smile as he looked up at him. 

Yongguk nodded and turned around, taking large steps over to the counter with Youngjae’s eyes following right behind. 

Before he was about to order, Yongguk snuck a glance back at Youngjae, who turned his head away quickly, not wanting to look like he had been staring. He, instead, settled for looking around the little cafe, noticing that there were only a few others scattered around the open space. He then focused his attention outside to the people passing by, trying to distract himself from how much of a date this seems like. 

When Yongguk returned, he was holding two coffee cups in his hands with a small, cutely decorated box balanced in his arm. He placed the items down carefully before taking the seat across from Youngjae. 

Pushing one of the cups and the small box across the table, he looked at Youngjae expectingly. 

Curious as to what was in the box, Youngjae inquired, to which Yongguk replied, “That one is supposed to be ‘butterscotch toffee cream’ flavored latte and I got you a vanilla chai tea cupcake. I though the sweet tastes would suit you best,” he said with a wide smile. 

Youngjae stared down intently at the box as he tried to cover up a blush. “Thank you,” he mumbled out and looked back up across the table to see Yongguk waiting patiently for him to open his treat. And so Youngjae complied, reaching with nimble fingers to pull at the little bow on top and lift the sides, revealing a impressive looking cupcake. 

The younger let out a little chuckle. “It’s kind of early to be eating something so sweet, though.”

Yongguk took his first sip of his coffee and watched how Youngjae was starting to peel away at the baking paper so that he could more freely enjoy his sweet morning breakfast. 

“You don’t need society to tell you when it’s alright to eat something. As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters,” the man offered a bit of his philosophy and they exchanged smiles before Youngjae starts nibbling on the cupcake, occasionally sipping on his latte, Yongguk doing the same. 

After a couple of minutes in silence, Yongguk piped up with conversation, apparently wanting to get to know the younger by asking how old he was and what he did for a living, to which Youngjae replied that he was twenty two, having recently graduated from university, and that he didn’t have a job as yet because he was trying to settle in to the city first. 

Yongguk nodded his head in understanding. “What did you study?”

“Child psychology,” Youngjae mumbled out from a mouthful of cupcake. “What about you?”

“Twenty six. I work in the district attorney’s office.”

They continued to throw questions back an forth, and by the time Youngjae was cupcake remains off his fingertips, he had learned quite a lot about the older man, like how he’s lived in the city all his life, that his favorite color was red, he had a couple of tattoos, and how he like to write music as a pastime. 

Sometime later, Youngjae’s curiosity might have gotten the better of him and he slipped up and asked what happened that made the older stop smiling before, and hearing this, Yongguk raised his eyebrow and looked a little amused. “It seems as if I’d caught your attention even before I met you.”

Youngjae got slightly flustered. “It’s not that. I just happened to notice you whenever I was sitting in the park.”

Yongguk smiled and accepted the answer, moving on to say that he was dating one of the younger interns.

Youngjae tried not to be upset with the information and continued to listen. 

He went on to say that he found out a while ago that she was cheating on him with another employee and because he really loved working for the company, he didn’t quit. And so, everyday after that, he would need some time to collect himself in the park before stepping into the office where he would always see the two together. “It sounds a little pathetic,” he adds with a laugh. 

“But you haven’t looked that sad for a long time now. Did something good happen?” Youngjae asked, wondering if maybe Yongguk had gotten himself another girlfriend. 

 The older flashed a grin at Youngjae. “I’ve found someone that can take the pain and even though we’re not really that close yet, they’re quickly becoming the best thing in my life so far." 

Still feeling a little disappointed knowing that the man already had a certain someone special in his life, Youngjae shifted the conversation back to something more general and the time passes by comfortably, long after the coffee cups are emptied and more people have crowded into the small cafe. 

When they had run out of questions, Yongguk asked how Youngjae was liking the city. 

“Well, contrary to what everyone else says, there’s not really much to see. Everything’s so dull and boring here, and I kind of regret coming… it sort of fell short of my expectations,” Youngjae said, giving a shrug in the man’s direction. 

“The city is a beautiful place, really. You just haven’t had the right person to show you around yet,” Yongguk replied playfully. 

Youngjae just looked skeptical. 

With a hint of hopefulness in his voice, Yongguk offered to show Youngjae something spectacular if he was willing to stay with him for the rest of the day.

Mentally slapping himself for thinking of the situation as a real date, Youngjae said he didn’t really have anything to do for the rest of the afternoon so he might as well, but asked what it was they were going to see.

“The sunset,” was Yongguk’s simple reply, and when Youngjae was about to say something, he continued, “It really is something worth seeing, and if you don’t like it after you see it, then you can tell me ‘i told you so’.” 

And with that, Youngjae pouted but agreed. 

Since it was only one o’clock and the sun didn't set until around five because of the cold season, the two agreed on seeing a movie and after that, wasted some time in the park until Yongguk said that they should be heading out so that they didn't miss the sunset. 

Youngjae was brought to the elder’s building and the two took the elevator all the way up to the last floor, then walked a flight of stairs that led them to the top. 

Stepping out onto the rooftop, the cold wind came rushing at the two, hitting Youngjae’s face, making his nose sting and his eyes water. But it only lasted for a second, because after that, there was just the cold hanging in the air. 

The rooftop was spacious, although bare, and because it belonged to one of the high rise structures that scratched at the sky, Youngjae could see the tops of the neighboring buildings. 

Yongguk led him over to the railing at the edge and told him that the sunset was prettiest when you were overlooking the city. 

Youngjae looked at the man with doubt clouding his face. “I don’t believe you. Sunsets are for the summertime when you can sit on the beach or on the warm grass and see all of the rich, bold colors.”

Yongguk chuckled. “True, there’s a difference when it cold, but that doesn’t mean it’s anything less beautiful. The colors are sharper and paler, and the city skyline creates the perfect backdrop. And in the summer, you can watch the sunset alone, but in the winter, the coldness gives you the opportunity to share the warmth with someone else,” he said, unwrapping his scarf and draping it around the younger’s neck, who had been balling his fists in an effort to fight off the cold. 

The unexpected gesture caused Youngjae to blush and turn his attention away from the man, instead, looking out beyond the metal railing as they waited in silence for the sun to go down. 

What surprised Youngjae was that Yongguk had an app on his phone that told him when the sun sets. Maybe he comes up here to watch it often. 

According to the app, they had five minutes left, and when Youngjae started to see the sun begin to dip in the sky, it was an astonishing sight, just as Yongguk had promised. The sun was reaching over the horizon and cutting through the cold sky. Indeed the colors were sharper and the building tops in the distance got in the way, but it was still breathtaking to look at. 

Youngjae was too busy looking in awe at the sky in front of him to notice that his coffee buddy was staring at him with a content smile. 

When Youngjae glanced back to see how Yongguk was enjoying the view, he caught the older man staring. Flustered and thinking that something must look weird on him, he stuttered out, “W-why are you looking at me l-like that?”

But his companion didn’t reply, and instead, leaned over to close the space between them and placed a light kiss on the younger’s lips. 

Even though the subtle wind was biting at them from being so high up, the kiss was warm, making Youngjae forget about the numb feeling in his fingertips, and in it’s place, felt a tingle of delight dart up his spine and his heart pitter patter like it had never done before. 

Withdrawing, Yongguk pulled back to find Youngjae wearing the cutest expression, looking back at him with wide eyes, cheeks taking on the warmest shade of the sunset, and mouth hanging open. 

To say Youngjae wasn't expecting that would have been pretty stupid of you because that was the last thing he would have thought of happening, and after what seemed to drag on for a few minutes Youngjae still couldn’ t seem to form a coherent sentence, so Yongguk took over. 

The older was still wearing that smile as he leaned his arms against the railing, still staring intently at Youngjae. 

“I don’t know if you could tell, but I’ve actually liked you for a while now— actually, since that first day you came to me in the park with a cup of coffee in your hand.”

Youngjae still couldn’t speak properly so all that fell out of his mouth was a couple of nonsense sounds which Yongguk was actually happy to hear because it meant that the younger didn’t hate the kiss. 

Still not fully understanding what Youngjae thought of the kiss and deciding to test his luck, Yongguk leaned back over and kissed him again, although this time, one of his hands cushioned the side of the younger’s face as the other rested ever so lightly on his waist that was covered by the jacket. 

When Youngjae pressed into the kiss and moved himself closer, Yongguk started to believe that he could actually feel the warmth of the sunset spreading over them. 

(a year later)

“You know, I totally knew,” Yongguk said as he clung onto Youngjae from behind, who had just woken up and was trying to fall back asleep. 

“Knew what?” Youngjae slurred out, feeling Yongguk nuzzle his face into his shoulder. 

The blinds were drawn so the morning sun was stretching in, illuminating the pure white sheets and adding cozy colors to room. 

One thing Youngjae liked best about Yongguk’s apartment was that it overlooked the city and the view was never something to ignore. Today was no exception, with the building peaks cutting through the orange glow in the sky and the freshly fallen snow from late last night still in powdery clumps on the high rooftops. 

A deep rumble of a chuckle was heard. “That you were totally crushing on me before I confessed to you on our first date.”

Youngjae was all ears now as he turned around to blink up at his boyfriend. “That wasn’t our first date. And how did you come to that conclusion?” The younger questioned, although he was blushing. 

Yongguk couldn’t resist the adorableness the morning brought onto Youngjae and so he closed the distance between them, placing an airy kiss on the younger’s lips. 

Youngjae scrunched up his face. “I told you not to kiss me with your nasty morning breath.”

Yongguk just laughed and pulled him closer. 

Ever since they became more comfortable around each other, after a couple of dates, Yongguk had discovered that Youngjae could be a little sarcastic and snarky at times. But that only made Youngjae so much more lovable in Yongguk’s eyes because there was no way his insults and glares would have any affect at all with his spongy cheeks and plump lips. 

“I knew because no one comes up to a complete stranger in the park and offers them coffee.” 

Youngjae scoffed. “It’s called feeling sorry for you and having a heart.” 

He buried his face into Yongguk’s bare chest, closing his eyes and returning to hang onto what little sleep was left in him, not wanting to be fully awake just yet. 

“Well, see, you had a heart for me when you did it and that means that you liked me.”

Youngjae kept quiet, not wanting to admit that his boyfriend was right because he was stubborn like that, although Yongguk could feel him smile against his collarbone. 

“Just shut up and let me sleep. It’s saturday. No one should be up this early,” Youngjae breathed out, but contrary to his request, Yongguk loosened one of his arms that was wound around the younger’s waist and brought it up to gently pull Youngjae’s face in for a deeper, but morning appropriate, kiss. 

Pulling away just enough to have their noses still touching, Yongguk soaked up in the wonderful feeling before Youngjae pushed his face away and went back to burying his face into the older’s chest. 

“You really have nasty morning breath.”